David Arnason

An immediate success upon its first publication in 1898, Wild Animals I Have Known gave the animal story new credibility and power as a literary genre and remains Seton' s best-loved work. With over 200 illustrations by the author. In Wild Animals I Have Known, Ernest Thompson Seton guides us through the inner lives of the creatures he met on Manitoba's plains, New Mexico's ranges, and in Toronto's ravines.
His portrayal of the ways of nature is a fascinating reflection of the conflicting impulses of his time: Romanticism is tempered by scientific observation; sentimentality by Darwinian dispassion. Yet each of Seton's animal heroes-Silverspot the Crow, Raggylug, the Cottontail Rabbit, and Wully, the Yaller Dog-is in his way an exception among his kind. Seton's compassionate appreciation for the wisdom expressed in the natural world made Wild Animals I Have Known an instant bestseller when it was first published in 1898, and has inspired generations of readers since.